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The Blue Jays added catching depth Thursday by bringing back Erik Kratz on a minor-league deal.

“We know him, good defender,” Jays manager John Gibbons said before Friday’s series-opening game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Kratz, who played in 34 games with the Jays in 2014, was designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates last week and elected to become a free agent rather than report to the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate. The 36-year-old worked closely with R.A. Dickey in spring training of 2014, and although he never caught the knuckleballer in a regular-season game, their past familiarity could prove valuable if Josh Thole were to suffer an injury.

“I’m sure when they made the move they took that into consideration,” Gibbons said.

THAT’S NO BULL: After struggling through most of the first half of the season, the Jays’ bullpen has shown considerable improvement of late.

The team’s relief corps owns a 3.26 ERA in July, fifth-best in the American League, though third best in their division. The bullpen has also walked fewer batters than any other this month. A big reason for the turnaround has been the performance of 39-year-old Jason Grilli, who since joining the club via trade May 31 and taking over as the primary setup man, has held opposing batters to a .169 average while posting a 2.04 ERA. Fifteen of his 19 appearances have been scoreless.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: Friday marked the first anniversary of Troy Tulowitzki’s trade to Toronto a few days ahead of last year’s trade deadline.

The five-time all-star shortstop’s arrival, along with that of David Price, spurred the Jays’ late-season surge up the standings and their first playoff berth since 1993.

“The thing that jumps out right away, the most important thing, is his defence,” Gibbons said, reflecting on the trade. “He made a huge difference defensively and I think that was the key in turning us around, to be honest with you.”

While Tulowitzki’s impact in the field was immediate and he had some crucial hits down the stretch and in the playoffs, it wasn’t until recently he started to hit with the consistency for which he was known in Colorado. Since coming off the disabled list June 18, Tulowitzki is hitting .300 with eight homers and an .880 on-base-plus-slugging (OPS) percentage, which is almost exactly in line with the numbers he put up through the first decade of his career with the Rockies.

BRINGING THE RAIN: As he continues to mount a convincing defence of his 2015 MVP title, Josh Donaldson has also made a strong case to win July’s player of the month honours.

He’s hitting .333 this month with six homers 20 runs scored and 21 driven in, while leading the league with a .451 on-base percentage. He also leads the majors with 1.6 Wins Above Replacement this month. His 1.000 OPS on the season trails only Boston’s David Ortiz among qualified American League hitters.

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